UPDATE: Jeff Kosseff of The Oregonian's Washington bureau just reported that the White House is opposed to the deal, saying it is too expensive. This is far from over.
You could almost feel the sigh of relief from members of Oregon's congressional delegation after a deal was announced on county timber payments Wednesday.

When I dipped into the issue last week, members of the delegation were pointing fingers at each other after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., visited Portland and sounded none too supportive about the program.

The feds have been providing some $280 million to mostly rural counties in the state to replace the money these areas lost when federal timber harvests dwindled during the 1990s, but the program has expired and it's been tough to get the money flowing again. The last thing the members of the delegation wanted to be doing in the 2008 election year was to be visiting counties where they've been handing out pink slips to the workforce, closing school programs and feeling like their members of Congress failed them. So, yes, this was a big deal.

The counties aren't out of the woods yet. The deal still needs to win final congressional approval as part of an energy bill that President Bush has threatened to veto for unrelated reasons. So it's not clear how that is all going to play out.

In addition, the deal calls for counties to get about 15 percent less than they have been receiving in what Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., described as "a four-year plan of gradually ramped-down funding." Translation: Counties, schools and other local governments affected by the program need to start figuring out an alternative source of revenue.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski has formed a new task force on the state's revenue system that is already beginning to look into that issue. And some counties that have had relatively low property tax rates (at least compared to the metro areas) will be under heightened pressure to persuade their constituents that they need to pay more.

Meanwhile, The Oregonian noted at the end of its story that Wyden and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., two of the main players in this battle, still have some issues over the terms of the deal and how it came together. But that's minor stuff compared with the hope of another four years of federal money for the folks back home.